Café María Elena

History
The life of Fermín Cabrera lacked direction. He worked panning for gold in, but didn’t always have the resources he needed to support his family. So he decided to change his work and dedicated himself to coffee production. In 1994, he moved to Colonia Alto Ascensión and began his life as a farmer. Little by little, with help from training courses, he improved the quality of the coffee he was growing. With the stability that he achieved growing coffee, his family grew. He has three daughters and a son who study near his community. He is very proud to have enough money so that they will be able to study a profession in the future. Three years ago, he heard about the competition, but he did was not excited to participate. “I didn’t know if my way of managing my product was good. I didn’t know how good my quality was. I wanted to know the quality of my work,” he told us. With the results he achieved this year, he plans to continue participating in the coming years. Now that he has demonstrated the quality of his coffee, he is very proud. “Now I’ve seen my work. I’m in a good place. I’m happy because my work has helped me. All the sacrifice of my work hasn’t been in vain.” Fermín already has plans for what he will do with the money he receives from the international auction. “I need more drying tables. This will make my coffee better, and next year, I’ll increase my production. We also want a nice house, with a solar panel or a generator for electricity. There isn’t money for these things. We look for loans, but you have to pay interest. The end of the month comes quickly. The money that I’ll earn will come in handy.”

Environmental Care
Organic compost from the discarded coffee pulp, the use of natural barriers, soil protection.

Other Statistics:
Soil Type: Clay Loam
Annual Precipitation: 1600 mm/year
Shade Type: Inga edulis sp.- Cedrella odorata
Weed Control: 2 times a year
Pruning: Growth – Renovation Productive Practices: Organic compost from the discarded coffee pulp, the use of natural barriers, soil protection